He has scored 33 goals in 57 appearances for Egypt and was their top scorer in FIFA World Cup qualifying, sealing their place in Russian Federation with a stoppage-time penalty against Congo that sparked wild celebrations in the football-mad country.

Denis Cheryshev, meanwhile, is expected to start after impressing off the bench against Saudi Arabia.

Salah's first sight on goal came four minutes to halftime as he shot wide on the turn from the edge of the area.

Aleksandr Golovin's cross was punched out by Egyptian keeper Mohamed El-Shenawy, only as far as Roman Zobnin whose low drive was heading wide until Ahmed Fathi's outstretched leg turned the ball into his own net. You can't be distracted when you're playing at the World Cup. He hardly reacted to Russia's opener, an own-goal.

Denis Cheryshev came off the bench to net a brace for Russian Federation last time around and he is expected to take his place in the starting line up against Egypt. Alan Dzagoev has been ruled out after suffering a hamstring injury and it remains to be seen whether he will feature later on in the tournament.

Artem Dzyuba made it 3-0 for the host nation three minutes later after superbly bringing down a cross with his chest before slotting into the bottom corner.

The Video Assistant Referee (VAR) system proved its worth to give Egypt a glimmer of hope when referee Enrique Caceres had initially awarded a foul outside the box rather than a penalty when Salah was pulled by Zhirkov. "We held back Salah and deserved to win", he said.

"I don't think it was lack of concentration, we did make mistakes and were not good at defending, but we had a really good first half", said Cuper.

"We need to bear in mind that there is not only one player on the pitch".

"He is important to us and I say that with all due respect to the other players in the Egyptian squad".

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